Alphabetical Attraction
by VesperChan
Summary: From A to Z there's lots of room for love. Granprize piece for Red-flower11.
1. A

Alphabetical Attraction

A = APATHY  
Pairing: Pein Sakura  
Rating: T  
Word count:2842

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Apathy |ˈapəθē|  
Noun; lack of interest, enthusiasm, or concern: There was widespread apathy among students.  
ORIGIN early 17th cent.: from French apathie, via Latin from Greek apatheia, from apathēs 'without feeling,' from a- 'without' + pathos 'suffering.'

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She looked up at his and studied him expression and appearance once more. He didn't look back at her, but she knew he was aware of her gaze. But he had no right to complain, since he was _suppose_ to be the one she was looking at, the one she was _suppose_ to be paying attention to. Because that's what students do with their teachers, and he was indeed her teacher.

Pein Akatsuki really didn't look the part of a teacher, what with all his piercing and wild unruly hair, anyone would rather peg him as a school yankee. But no, he was a History teacher at the Konoha community collage and Sakura was one of his many students. It was an advanced class, unlike the one he taught last semester, so the number of females who wanted to take this class just so that they could be with him was shrunk done to zero.

_Maybe that's why he hates me so much_, she though to herself, brushing back a stray stand of hair that had slipped over her ear. _Probably thinks I'm one of _those_ girl. Poor guy, I can't blame him for thinking that way though. If I were in his shoes I would be a little on edge as well. _

"Haruno san, who was the third devision leader during the third Senju clan war?"

"Senju Tōka," Sakura answered, without missing a breath, even though it wasn't an easy question. They were only up to the second Senju war in their books.

Pein turned to look at her, and she expected to see the same apathetic look he gave everyone and everything, but instead she saw one edged with a darker emotion. She pulled her hand away from her face and sat up straighter, waiting for him to turn away. His face shifted into another direction but his gray ringed eyes didn't leave her form. "That's very good."

_Still, I don't pity him enough to excuse that sort of behavior of his. Why am I the only one he seems to dislike so much?_

Pein looked up at the clock on the wall and then down at his own rolex, twisting it on his wrist so that he could see the hands clearly. "That's it for tonight's lesson then. Come up to the front and collect your test papers before leaving. Homework will be posted on the website as always. If you don't have access to the internet, use the school library."

The twenty one students all go up, seemingly at once and filed into a neat line in front of Pein's desk to accept their tests. Once they had that, they all left. Sakura was in the middle of the line when she received hers. She always did well on tests, so she really didn't bother to check it, but the bright red zero at the top made her stop and do a double take.

"Mr. Akatsuki, what's with this-"

"If you have a question or a complaint please wait till everyone has their test first," he answered calmly, his voice a deep timber over hers.

"But this isn't my-"

He turned to look at her, almost glaring at her as he cut of off for a second time. "Miss Haruno, please wait on the side till I am finished."

_Sexist bastard_.

That did it for her, she waited off to the side with red cheeks flushed that color from embarrassment. Some of the other students were giving her looks, a few of them were haughty, and a few were pitiful. One student who sometimes sat at her table looked like he wanted to talk to her, but pulled back when the teacher gave him his test along with a stern look that said more than a normal look should.

"I'll see you afterwards, Sakura san," Neji called bafore heading out the door, closing it behind him-just like the teacher asked him to.

Pein sighed, leaning back in his chair as he rubbed the piercings that ran though the bridge of his nose. Sakura though he had forgotten about her at first but then he looked up at her and she stiffened as ice seemed to be sent down her spine. Of course he hadn't forgotten her, he just didn't want to have to deal with her. So that's how it was.

"Now, what was it you had a complaint about."

Sakura slammed her test paper down in front of him on his empty desk, and watched as he filched, shrinking away from her form._ Gosh, he doesn't have to act like I'm infected with rabies or something._

"My test paper came back as a zero even though I know all these questions to be correct. I was looking them over while you handed out the rest of the class tests. Why did you give me a zero even though I didn't do anything wrong? I've never done anything to you personally, so I don't think I deserve this."

"That's exactly right," he replied, folding his hands together in front of his mouth. He settled his elbows on the edge of his desk and looked up at her with unbridled eyes that held nothing back. They were intense to say the least, but they were more than that, they were frightening. "You are exactly right, as always, Haruno san. You've never done _anything_ to me."

Sakura frowned, narrowing her own eyes to match his own glare. She really didn't want to take anything from this guy for something she never did. Sure she was one of three girls in the entire class, but why didn't he have to single her out and pick on her like this. "They why?"

"You should know why."

"Listen sensei, I know you really don't like me, but to fail me on this is just wrong. At least tell me what I di-"

He moved too fast for her to see what he was really doing. That hand she had on his desk was pulled back by one of his, knocking out the support from underneath her, resulting in her upper body falling towards his own. She though that her teacher had finally snapped under all that anger he had for her. She though he was really going to hurt her, but she was wrong.

The thing that really cut her off wasn't the sudden lack of support, but rather the sudden impact of his lips on hers. She felt like a cat, arched up against him in a mid fall position, bent over the blank table, but he soon fixed that. She didn't know how he did it exactly, but he pulled her towards him and twisted her onto her side so that he was hovering over her, his kisses still bruising her lips.

So here she was on her back, on the desk of her dictionarydefonitionofapathy _teacher_, getting mouth raped. What-why? Didn't he hate her or something?"

"Sensei!" she gasped as soon as his lips pulled away. She didn't have enough air to say anything else though, so she just coughed and struggled to breath. He obviously had larger lungs than she did since he wasn't gasping as much. Either that or _experience_.

"Shhh," he cooed into her neck, rubbing the piercings in his chin over her skin in a tickling way. "Sakura...."

She shivered under his touch and his words. For one, he never called her or addressed her by her first name. It was always Haruno san or just Haruno. But then, he never kissed her or pinned her down to his desk before, either. Today was turning out to be a day of firsts for her handsome teacher.

"Why? Why are you doing this?" she asked, her voice a bit hoarse.

"The semester is almost over, and soon you'll be in another class," he breathed, nuzzling his face into the crook of her neck, flicking his tongue out once or twice to taste her. "I've waited this long already and yet you haven't done anything. You don't even look at me more than nessiary."

"What? I though you didn't like me sensei! You glare at me all the time, even though you're apathetic and uncaring towards the rest of the students. It was like you only hated me."

This was probably supposed to be where she said something like 'I could never think of you that way' or 'This is wrong, you're my teacher' or something along those lines, but she would be lying if she said she wasn't attracted to this guy. She just never allowed herself to think that way because he was her teacher and she was his student. Duh, typical forbidden student teacher relationship wasn't really her style.

He chuckled into her neck, spreading warmth all over it. "For someone who's normally so smart, you are surprisingly dumb, Sakura. I was looking at you in such a manner, not because I despised you like all the other fangirls, but because I _liked_ you."

"Couldn't you have just told me?" she asked, propping herself back up onto her elbows, allowing his head to rest upon her lap, turned upwards towards her. His cheeks were pink and there was a hazy drunk look in his eyes as he reached a hand up behind her back to stroke her neck from behind. He smiled just a little bit, but still retained his strong, leader like visage.

"I though you knew better. Everytime I looked at you I felt such a deep smoldering passion, you must have interpreted it as hate." He chuckled, and she frowned at this. "How foolish of you, my dear Sakura chan."

"Che, how foolish of me? What about you? You go almost the whole semester, glaring ice daggers at me and then when I think I'm going to fail the class you pin me to your desk like some kind of pervert sensei. What makes you think I'll return any of your affections?"

He sat up quickly and turn to look at her with widened eyes, fear glossing over his features. Sakura gave him the raised eyebrow look and that only seemed to confuse him more. "Sakura I..."

"Please just stop. Exactly how many girls have you tried this gig on?" He opened his mouth to reply, but she held up her hand to stop him and slid back off the desk. "You know what, never mind, I just wanted my paper graded the right way. If you just used this to get close to me then I'm leaving."

She didn't stop to grab her test paper, only her backpack, before she was at the door, aiming to leave. Her hand was on the door knob pulling it open when a shadow over her pushed the door back-shut. She turned with angry words on her lips only to stop short as he stole yet another kiss from her. "Don't-" he pulled away for a second to say that before going back to her lips with chaste kisses. "Leave me..." More kisses. "Only you..."

"Pein san please," she tried to say, her hands on his chest.

"No, Sakura!" His body trapped her against the door. "Don't leave." His hands closed in on her and tangled themselves into her hair. "Not you, don't leave. If I was playing with you I wouldn't have tried to get you to notice me for such a long time. If I was just playing, I wouldn't have put in so much effort. I don't want something fast and fleeting. I want a real relationship with you. I want you to be mine and I want to be yours."

She looked up at him with mixed feelings, scanning his face for them as well. He wasn't crying or breaking down like his voice made him sound like he was doing, but was holding himself together for her, hanging on her words. "A relationship?" she repeated, disbelief lacing her words. "Like a boyfriend, girlfriend kind of relationship?"

"If you want to put it in such juvenile terms then, yes. I'm not the kind of person that wants a one night stand or a relationship in the darkness. I just want you and I don't care if I have to shout it from the top of this building to prove it."

"It's a one story building," she chuckled.

He didn't seem to share her taste in humor. "In every way and manner possible, I want you to know I am serious about you, Sakura."

She noticed his voice had gotten deeper and his hands were fists in her hair. He wasn't her nonchalant, uncaring, apathetic teacher anymore. He was Pein the human being with emotions and this Pein cared. So that left it up to her. Did she want a relationship with her Greekgoodclone of a teacher or did she want to leave things as they were?

"Kiss me."

He blinked hard. "What?"

She rolled her eyes and sighed. "You seemed so willing before, why do you hesitate now. I told you to _kiss_ me. If I don't dislike it I'll consider meeting up with you at Starbucks tomorrow at noon." Sakura reached up and grabbed the white collar of his button up shirt to pull his face down to her level. "Take responsibility for you words and _kiss me_."

He didn't need to be told again, since he was all over her in the next second, drowning her in rough and harsh kisses that were overflowing with three months worth of pent up passion. She reached up to run her fingers through his hard, dragging them down his scalp in a twisted form of pleasure for this man. He pulled away to moan her name and she in turn reached for his throat, trailing butterfly kisses up and down in a teasing manner.

He returned his mouth to her own, biting down of her bottom lip to coax out a gasp that allowed him entrance into her moist cavern. His tongue curled around her own and she was soon pushing back against him, playing with the piercing that went through his tongue. She thought it would be cold and sharp to her senses, but it felt warm and soon she found herself playing with his chin piercing with her teeth.

He growled like an animal against her and she in turn purred like a kitten. He was enjoying this too much he couldn't even call this pleasure, the word seemed to weak. Ecstasy, euphoria, rapture, bliss? Could any of them describe this feeling?

She pulled away from him and he fell limp against the door, her small form missing against his. He turned around to see her at the other end of the classroom standing in the second doorway. Her test paper was in hand with a big red ten written in front of the zero, making it into the one hundred it should have been. She smiled over her shoulder at her teacher and winked.

"Its at noon, remember?"

Then she was gone, leaving him by himself, alone and flustered with his shirt half unbuttoned. Five minuets later an extra early student sauntered in and noticed how his teacher was looking a bit dazed.

"Is everything alright sensei?"

Pein looked up and frowned. "No it isn't, I can't wait, tell the other students when they get here that I had to cancel at the last second for an emergency. They can all automatically pass today's test."

Idate watched with widened eyes as his normally nonchalant teacher pulled on his coat and ran out the back door in a hurry, Pein's face a bright shade of pink.

"W-was that lipstick on his chin?"

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This is the grand prize for Red-flower11 from my Sakura oneshot contest back in july. I hope you like it, Red. There are still many more chapters yet to be typed that I'm looking forward to doing.

Vesper chan


	2. B

Alphabetical Attraction

B = Bachelorette  
Pairing: Gaara Sakura  
Rating: T  
Word count:1528

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Bachelorette |ˌba ch (ə)ləˈret|  
noun1 A young unmarried woman.  
2 a small bachelor apartment : a bachelorette in a high-rise complex.

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It was starting to get painful.

Really, it shouldn't be this hard, but for some reason it was incredibly painful for him on every attempt. Not in an actual physical sense, painful, but a everytimeItrytotalktohermychestgetstightandIcan'tbreeth type of painful.

What was so difficult about asking the hottest bachelorette in the apartment out for a cup of coffee? Plenty of women have asked him out before, and he in turn had also asked a few out in his younger days. It was never this hard, though.

Maybe it was because she was so different from the other woman he used to date that made him feel this way. She wasn't one of those 'easy' girls that would lust and dump you after you felt like giving up. She was well to do property owner and investor with a bright future ahead of her and he was a 22 year old who looked and acted like he just stepped out of a Godfather movie. That wouldn't be too far from the truth to say something like that, but he had no intention of telling her something like that right away.

Sakura, herself was only twenty two and not surprisingly, unmarried. To his credit, Gaara understood via some reliable sources, that she wasn't even seeing anyone. A rare even indeed with so many suitors showing up at her door with chocolates and roses-two things he knew she didn't really like.

His sister, who happened to be one of Sakura's good friends, had told him so during one of her morning rambles in the cars. She said Sakura didn't like watching cut flowers die, and instead preferred potted plants she could keep alive and use, like Mint. And while she liked chocolate, she knew it wasn't all that good for her unless it had a high coco percentage- so she stuck to health bars and working out.

_'Not that she needs to_,' he mused to himself, remember when he once caught her in the gym going at it with another kick boxer in minimal attire.

Right now she was sitting on a park bench, doing what looked like crossword puzzle. She didn't seem to be having any trouble, not that he expected her to. She was a really smart girl that was fortunate with a lot of stuff in her life. An early inheritance of property and a collage degree before she was twenty three would make anyone happy, right? Then why did she look so sad all the time.

_'That's just the way she is, Gaara. Don't insult her.'_

_'I wasn't insulting her. It was simply an observation.'_

_'If you say so. But if you ask me, I think she's just lonely. She'll be twent four soon and the last time she had a boyfriend was when she was nineteen.'_

_That was interesting. 'Why is that?'_

_'I don't know. She's a great gal once you get to know her, she just seems to have the worst luck when it comes to men.'_

_'Aren't there a lot of guys interested in her?'_

_'Weird isn't it?'_

He hadn't noticed himself doing it, but somehow his feet had carried him to stand in front of her, blocking out her sunlight with his shadow. She looked up and neon green pierced jade. Here eyes were like lightning contained in two small orbs, rooting him where he stood. She put her newspaper down and lifted a hand to her eyes to block out the sun, trying not to squint.

"Gaara is that you?"

She remembered him from the few times they had spoken, always with his sister in their group. "Sakura...I though it was you. Long time no see, eh?"

She smiled and it made his heart fluter."Last time was with Temari at the newspaper party, wasn't it?"

"Yeah you remembered. It's been a while since then and I wanted to see how you were doing. Temari is overseas now for the newspaper right now, so she probally hasn't had time to call you, has she?"

She snickered and moved over on the park bench to make room for him. "No she hasn't. Have you heard from her? I would like to know how she is doing."

"She met a guy over there and I think they're together right now. His name is something like Shima, Shika Shikamaru. Yeah, but he must really be something to keep her over there for so long and disconnected from the rest of us.

He watched as her eyes widened and then narrowed into slits aimed at the crumpled newspaper in her hands. "Dang it, and she was older than me too. How dare she not tell me about something like that." Closing her eyes she leaned back and laughed pitifully.

"What's the matter? She was planning on telling you, I'm sure. You don't need to fe-"

"No it's not that," she quickly claimed, cutting him off. "i just feel a bit lonely now with another single friend of mine finding herself a man, I guess. Kind of pathatic really, but that's enough about me. What about you Gaara? How is your love life going these days? Aren't you seeing someone right now?"

He turned red and looked down at his hands. "Uh, n-no, I haven't been in a, uh a relationship in the past few months. I'm single."

"Are you happy that way?"

"Not really," he said, refusing to look her in the eye.

She made a heavy breathing sound and looked over her word puzzle once more. "Sucks, doesn't it, but you get used to it I guess. I've been single for a long time so I know the feeling and I have to say, it's not that bad. Lonely sometimes, but you get by."

"You like being single?"

"Not really, but I don't feel like the right elements for a relationship are there, so I'm not complaining."

She was lying, he could tell. After so many years of having to risk his life off the words of another he became really good at telling who was spouting the truth and who was breathing lies. She didn't want to lie, and probably wasn't doing it on purpose, but he couldn't help but think back to all those guys showing up with roses on her doorsteps. "If I were you I would be lonely, Sakura. You're a really strong person. I'm just miserable."

"Think of it this way, being in no relationship is better than being in a bad one."

He looked up at her just then and though he saw something like bitterness in her face. Before he could call her out on it, she was cursing at her newspaper. "What's the matter?"

"I can't get this one word. Wanna see if you can get it?"

He picked up the newspaper she was holding and looked at the empt boxes that needed to be filled with words. He read the clue and than smiled to himself, making sure she hadn't seen that. "If I can figure it out will you do something for me?"

"What sort of something?" she asked with a hesitant voice.

"Come to dinner with me."

She looked like she was thinking it over for a while, knowing fully well that he was proposing a date between the two of them. Something she hadn't been on in quite a while. Finally she smiled, handing him her pen with what looked like mischievous eyes. "If you can figure out that word I agree."

He took her pen and filled in the boxes just like that, his own smirk in place as she watched her eyes widen at the irony.

The word was bachelorette.

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This is the grand prize for Red-flower11 from my Sakura oneshot contest back in july. I hope you like it, Red. There are still many more chapters yet to be typed that I'm looking forward to doing.

And before someone asks again, if I put these guys in character it just wouldn't be any fun. If I put them in character they would probably never look at Sakura, because that it the way they were written, sexist bastards.

Vesper chan


	3. C

Alphabetical Attraction

C =Carousel  
Pairing: Kakashi Sakura  
Rating: T  
Word count:

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Carousel |ˌkarəˈsel; ˈkarəˌsel| (also carrousel)  
**Noun**  
1 a merry-go-round.• a rotating machine or device, in particular a conveyor system at anairport from which arriving passengers collect their luggage.  
2 historical a tournament in which groups of knights took part in chariot races and other demonstrations of equestrian  
mid 17th cent.: from French carrousel, from Italiancarosello.

-

Kakashi hated change, and he had a right to. Changes brought death, loneliness, loss, despair, poverty, mistrust, and a great deal of other things he would rather not deal with. The only good thing the years seemed to bring was the graduation of reading porn over his sensei's shoulder, to actually owning a small library of the smutty goodness. But what was that worth when you stood it next to the loss of that beloved sensei?

He was cleaning out yet another desk at the home base. The desk belonged to a life long member and dear friend of his who was leaving behind one more hole in the tired scarecrow's heart, as well as a wife and unborn child.

Kikashi picked up a photo of him, Guy, and Asuma after one of their missions. Asuma was smoking in the picture and he was reading his favorite book while Guy was the only one who seemed to take notice of the camera, stiking one of his dynamic poses. He looked more like a goofball dad than a hit man for hire. _ At least Guy is around, even if he is on the other side of the world. _

The Bruce Lee imitator had left a week ago, right after the funeral to spend some time with that adopted son of his. He was planning on bringing the boy into the business, something Kakashi fought with him about, and was doing everything he could to get Rock Lee into the best shape he could be.

"Lot of good that does you when a bullet plants its self in your head," he murmured, fingering a pack of unopened cigarets from atop a pile of unsigned papers. He weighed the pack in his hand before sticking it in his pockets.

Kakashi took a key out and opened up the first drawer, finding a small, black semi automatic resting a top a years worth of cigarets. The gun gleamed under the new light in a sinister fashion that made the older man's stomach flop. There was another one, identical in appearance, rester farther back and just out of sight. Asuma liked wielding dual weapons instead of just one, like most men. He had many guns, and most of them looked like the ones Kakashi was looking at as a cold hand gripped his heart. The gun that killed his friend probably looked just like this one.

Without thinking, he slammed the drawer back and exited the office, leaving the small cardboard bow filled with personal items behind. Only a pack of BULL EYE smokes in his pocket would betray the self implanted idea that he never was in that room.

Yamato found his higher up siting on the roof with his mask down and a stick of rolled tobacco in his mouth. "Do you want a light for that?" he asked, climing out a window and crawling over to sit next the older man with a clearance level that most never got close to possessing.

Kakashi didn't look away from the sagging sun that seemed to be teasing the horizon before it's setting. "Haven't got one...'sides, it's bad for your lungs."

"Then why do you have it in your mouth, senpai?"

Kakashi removed the cigaret and looked down at it, rolling it between his fingers and turning it over to have a better look at it. His eyes, like always, looked heavy and tired, though Yamato knew than in an instant they could snap, along with the rest of his body, into predator mode. That's one of the things that made Kakashi such a high level guy. He was bored and lazy one minuet, teasing and cheerful the next, and then when you weren't looking, he would pull down his mask and collapse like he was doing right now. Yamato was one of the lucky few that got to see him like this, even if the younger knew that Kakashi was still as much alert as he was in front of a crowd.

"I guess I wanted to see what it tasted like for once. Asuma was smoking these things like crazy all the time. I wonder what the draw was with him."

Yamato chuckled, looking out at the sun set. "You're not going to find out unless you light it, but you won't do that, will you?"

Kakashi held the cigaret up to his nose and inhaled deeply before pulling it away again. "Probally not... The heads would have my ass if they knew I was doing something stupid like this in my old age. My lungs wouldn't be able to keep up with it and I'd slip up for sure." With a soft shake of his head he flicked the stick of white over the side of the roof and relaxed.

"That so like you, senpai."

The two sat in silence for a while, waiting and watching as the shadows stretched further and further behind their backs. Kakashi was the one that spoke up eveantuully. "Is there something you want, Yamato? I cal feel you agitation with something, so you might as well spit it out."

Yamato blushed, feeling foolish for having been so easy to read. Though, that wasn't something to be concerned about when you were with Kakashi, since he was a master at reading into these things, anyway. Of course Kakashi would have seen the excitement masked and bubbling under the surface. Being a veteran in the business of killing and avoiding being killed, he was of course, skilled in these things. He had to be, else he would end up like...

"I'm suprised you haven't heard about it already, but it looks like there's a new girl who is going to be assigned to you. I saw her sitting in Tsunade's office and I have to say I envy you a ton. She's a real looker and I though for sure she was going to be in the seduction unit, but she's an offensive operative, just like us. She's one of the prettier females here, but up till now she's been doing solo stuff for the head."

"Is that so.... I guess that's what she wanted to talk to me about." _Tch, just my luck, I get stuck with a whining bitch. Least she's not a whore like the rest of them, shows she has a bit of a brain. But women are women and they're all the same._

"Apparently, she was a sort of pet to the head and so Tsunade wanted to keep her out of sight or at least under the radar, least Danzo find out. Still, she looks to be about twenty, maybe less. She's really slim, but still well built, and has-get this-pink hair!"

"Really?"

"Yeah, I though it was ridiculous when I heard about it, but she really pulls it off quite well. She's so pretty with those green eyes and pale peach like skin. You would probably think so too if you weren't too deep into those smutty books of yours."

Kakashi looked up from trying to grab the little orange paperback out from his back pouch and laughed at the half lidded expression his friend was using. "Didn't your mother tell you reading was good for you?"

"She also told me that she would kill me if she found any porn on the computer, then bring me back from the dead and do it all over again, necromancer style."

Tap tap

The two turned towards the window where they had climbed out and saw a pale face, framed by pink. "Tsunade asked me to find you Kakashi san. I'm to introduce myself, since you seemed to be finished with your cleaning," she said, her face expressionless aside from a fain smile that could barely be detected.

Kakshi's eyes narrowed and he pulled up his mask so as to not let her see his face before he turned around completely. The cleaning she so carelessly mentioned was him cleaning out the desk of another dead member and dear friend. Did she think that was something to toss around so lightly or joke about? _Was that what her smile was for? _

_"Ah,"_ he lamely muttered, lifting his hand in a weak greeting. "You seem to already know me."

In the background Yamato was frozen in place, staring at the delicate looking girl who looked like a well trained runner. His mouth hung open just a bit and his cheeks were flushed pink.

"My name is Sakura." No last name.

Kakashi stood and let his hands fall into his pockets. "Very well. Then you're to be my partner for tomorrow night's infiltration. I hope you come prepared." And with that he turned and started walking away, across the roof to where the wires connected flagpole to wall.

Once he was out of sight Sakura turned to look at the brown haired agent who was doing a fabulous job at hiding his excitement. He looked like a cement block. "I guess he doesn't like me, huh? Too bad for him, I guess." Then she pulled away form the window and was gone.

-

Now, of course when you are a hired assassin in this day and age, it's almost always nessiary for you bring some sort of gun with you. A few old timers still used old fashioned weapons like knives and poisoned needles, but for the most part, everyone needed to have a gun with them.

When Sakura showed up, Kakashi expected her to be one of those Tomb Raider look alikes with dual pistols strapped to her thighs with a few extra rounds to reload with. But no, that was not the case. Sure there was a small semi automatic strapped to her belt, but her cartridges were bigger than that gun.

"What's the matter? I though you were never surprised." Kakashi looked up and met the teal eyes of his one time partner. She was smirking at him.

"You can carry that thing? I'm impressed," he replied, looking over the huge gun that was strapped to her back and looked bigger than her. It went past her head a bit and reached down to her calves. He couldn't help but be reminded of Victoria from Hellsing and her weapon when he saw Sakura standing there with the straps crossing over her chest in a x fashion.

"It's a yakuza base, so we don't have to worry about the police or being quiet. Just keeping our heads to ourselves. You're handling it better than the first guy I partnered up with." She laughed to herself and took a step back towards the hummer to open a side door and pull out another small hand gun. She gave it a look over before opening it and filling it with small lead bullets. Clicking it back into place, she looked up and met the only eye she could see on her partner. "Dude wouldn't shut up about how I was going to compromise the mission and all sorts of shit."

"If you were that terrible, you wouldn't still be alive, would you?" he asked watching her as she adjusted one of the two belts that wrapped around her waist. One was filled with extra bullets, the other kept her guns in check. She was wearing gray shorts and knee high combat boots that were also ringed with bullet belts. "Sides, you look ready to tear the place apart with just what you're carrying."

She walked over to him and he turned in the direction of the base, letting her fall into steep with him. They had to walk the rest of the distance to their target, since there were no unguarded roads in that direction. Once they got there, Sakura would split and create the distraction, drawing the weaker masses to her position, while Kakashi would attack the head. It was a pretty basic plan, but it was also one that had the stealth expert concerned. Sakura was decked out, but she wasn't wearing any armor, so if she got hit with just one bullet, that would compromise the whole mission.

"How many times have you done this?" he asked, keeping his eyes ahead of him.

"I've lost count. It's probably on my file back at the base, but I've been doing this ever since I was ten. Don't look so surprised. It's not uncommon for gangs to start training kids to point something they don't know anything about and pull a trigger. My mom got caught up in drugs and gangs after my dad died and she sort of forgot me in her high, so I was pretty easy to manipulate."

"When did Tsunade find you?"

"Four years later, after I tried to kill her. She took me in and tried raising me like a normal kid, but it was hard letting go of something like that, 'ya know? So as soon as I graduated, I started working for her again. Weird, I know. I've lost so many friends to this kind of work, but I can't help but keep coming back to it. I guess I just fear changes."

_I know what you mean._ "You talk an awful lot, don't you?"

"Do I? No one ever seems to want to listen." She pushed back a tree branch and stopped, scanning the oncoming area. The base was directly ahead, swarming with yakuza men, all poorly armed-some only carrying knives.

"Dose it look like I have a choice?"

"Not really... anyway this is where we split See you on the inside."

Before the gray haired male could wish her luck, she was running fast and low to the ground, her gun mounted on her shoulders like a cannon. He though for sure she would be too slow on the draw with that heavy thing, but she swung it off her one arm, rolling it till the trigged was behind her finger, and fired a few loud blasts that brought down a rain of bodies.

"She's fast, I'll give her that," he mused, slinking off in the opposite direction. Someone saw him and raised his gun, but Kakashi was faster. After that one, the hallways were surprisingly empty. At the far end of the compound there was plenty of noise, though. That's where Sakura was.

"Oi, you!" Kakashi turned, tense as a drawn bowstring, ready to bolt in a moment's notice. He only hesitated because this guy's tone wasn't murderous. "The Defense around the boss is weak, get your ass back here and help!"

So they though he was one of them, did they? Well, maybe the stolen garb he had been given before the mission started helped with that. Playing the part of the dumb old guy he smiled and rubbed the back of his head. "S-sorry. I though I heard something and I saw the guys running."

"That's nothing for your to be concerned about, just guard the red roo-."

Bang

_Guess the disguise wasn't working after all. _Someone knew he was here to kill the boss, and it was too soon for that. They were supposed to find out about that, after they attacked.

Picking up the man's fallen semi, he took off down the halls, away from the dull ringing of bullets and bodies flying free wherever Sakura was, providing the distraction. Just like he planned it, he snuck in, put out a few guys before he took down the head, and exited without much trouble. It was almost too easy...and that made him nervous. The defenses were too weak around the boos, so either someone was planning on using his network to pull off a coup, or Sakura had too many men to deal with on her end. Neither sounded too good for him.

"That rookie better not be dead. If she is, she's an idiot for going in there without any protective gear," he said aloud, wiping a bit of blood off his hands. That stuff sprayed too much at close range.

The halls were too quiet for him, and once he started seeing dead bodies, something like dread started to grow and fester in his gut. He didn't want to worry about someone he just met, even if she was really cute and so much like him in more ways than he was willing to admit. _Weird, I know. I've lost so many friends to this kind of work, but I can't help but keep coming back to it. I guess I just fear changes._

A man at his feet stirred and Kakshi drew his gun, ready to shoot, but someone else did that for him. He looked up real quick to see her sitting against the wall, drenched in blood both her and not her own. It looked like someone had shot her through the head, because there was a hole there, but it was bubbling almost, spitting out blood. He hurried to her side and wiped away as much of the red as he could with his already soaked hands. It was a hole, and there was a bullet being pushed back out as flesh and tissue began to pull it's self back together.

"What the hell?"

"Didn't you know. This is the reason I'm not dead yet. I've got no real skill for this sort of thing, but as you can see, I can do other sorts of things," she chuckled, a lawyer of weariness coating her words and holding her down. She yawned and wiped a tear away from her eye, smearing more blood all over her face.

Kakashi leaned back, staring at the girl as if she had gown another head before he was able to reign in his shock to a tolerable level. He had heard about a drug they were trying to perfect that could do this to a human, but he had never actually seen it work on someone. Or was it her own body doing it, naturally? Was that the reason Sakura was picked up by the head? Tsunade wasn't big on charities and wasn't the motherly type, so it didn't make sense for her to take in Sakura unless it was for a science experiment.

The man was gauging her expression as her eyes trailed over the lifeless bodies and picked up a hint of regret. Never mind that these men were murders and rapists and hell spawns to say the least. They got what was coming to them and the world was a better place without them, so why did she look so sorry? She's killed before, so why? He reached out and ran a thump over another hole in her shoulder and she turned to look at him when she felt him.

"Why are you regretful, Sakura?"

She blinked and then coughed, finding something funny with what he said, but trying not to laugh. "I just killed two dozen men and you ask me what's wrong? Isn't it obvious? I took someone's life, bad as they were, it's still a life. If I could I would want to..." she shook her head and chuckled, thinking it stupid. "Get out of this business and fix all the changes I've made. Put my life back to where it used to be and then keep it there, without the perverted changes."

"Like a merry go round?"

She snorted. "Hell no, those things are for kids. I'm more of a carousel type of girl. If i could, I'd fix my life and keep it fixed. I wouldn't let these bad things happen."

Kakashi nodded, sitting down next to her to stare out at the sea of red from the same perspective. "Sometimes I like to think like that too."

"Really? So it's not only me?"

"I hate changes. If I could, I would make my life like a merry go-"

"Carousel."

"...My life like a carousel. Safely spinning in beautifle circles, everything under control, no changes, no deaths, no wrong turns."

Sakura ran a finger through a pool of blood that settled over her well developed chest and then flung it off, spraying it against the far wall. She watched it spread out in droplets over the faces and flooring in front of her before replying. "But life isn't like that, Kakashi. It's never that safe or that good. Life is a path with twists and turns we can't see, with bumps and hills and holes and ditches we all fall into. It's..." she sighed, frustrated at not being able to find the right word. "It's _life_."

"Hey, I didn't say I was expecting something like that, just wishing for it."

"Then let me wish with you. Wishes are stronger with more people, you know," She grabbed his hand, startling him before she fell onto his shoulder, her huge ass gun clattering to the floor not so loudly. Too much blood to cushion its fall. She was asleep, and breathing evenly to prove so.

In a few minuets Kakashi would get a call from his head explaining Sakura's condition and how she always fell asleep for a long while after taking so many hits, but for now, there was only silence. The copy cat hit man looked down at her peaceful physiognomy and smiled at how cute she looked. Sort of like a child with perfect lips and blood smeared cheeks. Far from perfect, but somehow, that made her all the more desirable.

"Maybe I'll take you with me when I go looking for my carousel."

-

-

-

* * *

This is the grand prize for Red-flower11 from my Sakura oneshot contest back in july. I hope you like it, Red. There are still many more chapters yet to be typed that I'm looking forward to doing.

I saw Panyo and it was freaking awesome! You should go see it and enjoy yourselves. I felt so light and young and fluffy coming out of the theater, it made me that happy. Yeah, that had nothing to do with anything so, ignore me.

Vesper chan


	4. D

Alphabetical Attraction

D = Disturbia  
Pairing: Sakura  
Rating: T

-

Disturbia  
**Noun**  
1 A place where the disturbed dwell.  
2 A place of mind.

-

What's wrong with me? Why do I feel like this? I'm going crazy now.

No more gas in the rig. Can't even get it started. Nothing heard, nothing said. Can't even speak about it  
All my life on my head. Don't want to think about it. Feels like I'm going insane....yeah

It's a thief in the night to come and grab yo.u It can creep up inside you and consume you  
A disease of the mind it can control you. It's too close for comfort

Throw on your break lights, we're in the city of wonder.  
Ain't gona play nice. Watch out, you might just go under.  
Better think twice, your train of thought will be altered.  
So if you must faulter be wise, your mind is in disturbia  
It's like the darkness is the light.... Disturbia  
Am I scaring you tonight? Your mind is in disturbia.  
Ain't used to what you like...  
_Disturbia_

Sakura cursed, slamming shut the hood of her car shut before glaring at it and the clouds of grayish smoked that crawled up from underneath. She would do well to never trust Naruto with fixing her car ever again. What was wrong with her? That kid couldn't fix a toothbrush if his life depended on it. What made her think he could do anything positive to her car.

So here she was, stranded in the middle of nowhere with her hunk-of-junk-clunker coughing vile fumes in her face. Marooned on the side of a road that saw a maximum of two cars a day, it was no wonder she was so frustrated.

Oh, and look at that, why don't you? It's already twilight, it'll be dark soon enough.

Angrily she kicked the front of her car, doing more damage to her foot than the screwed over vehicle. The Geo Prism responded with a long, drawn out groan before coughing up a large cloud of black that flew into her face.

Hacking and coughing bits of what tasted like black ash out of her mouth, Sakura walked around to the passenger side of her car and pulled out her backpack and an emergency water-bottle. She stashed her keys under her CD collection and left it there fro when she came back in the morning. If she was lucky, someone would try to steal it.

"Maybe this is Karma for trying to get to sin city without a map, or a single good intention," she muttered to herself, remembering how she was suppose to meet up with Ino tonight in Vegas. There looked to be no chance of that now... not that Sakura minded all that much. Vegas sounded like fun for a newly turned twenty one year old, but there wasn't all that much she was dying to do. Gambling and strip clubs weren't high on her priority list.

After attaching a small pocket light to the belt loop of her denim shorts, Sakura started power walking down the highway in the direction she was headed. In five minuets her car looked to be the size of a watermelon, in another ten minuets it was hardly the size of her fist. Within twenty minuets, her car was directly out of sight.

Almost as soon as she lost sight of it, something shining in the dim distance caught her eye. Picking up her pace, she saw that what waited for her in the distance was indeed a small town, decked out in lights.

"I don't remember there being a town out here. There shouldn't be anything for thirteen miles and I'm sure I haven't walked that far," she said to herself.

By now it was dark, and she had her light on. She spotted a pair of small headlights way down the road and so she began to wave her light like crasy, hoping she would be seen. That must have been what one of the oncoming cars saw, since it pulled over to the side of the road right in front of her. A young man with delicate features and long blond hair stepped out from the driver's side and waved her down.

"Oh thank God you saw me," she gasped, running up to his side, all flustered. "I thought for sure I would have to spend the night walking through the desert with rattle snakes and scorpions. You're a lifesaver, man."

He grinned widely, and his teeth seemed to reflect the light from his headlights, his smile was that bright. "I'm happy to help, yeah. You wanna toss that knapsack in the bag and hope in, I'll take 'ya to da nearest hotel and 'ya call a towing joe in the morning," he replied, a strong slang to his words.

"Thanks, I would love that. Where is this place anyway? I don't remember I city being here," Said Sakura, as she tossed in her bag and climbed into the passenger's side of the pickup truck.

"Heh, nothing new with 'dat, hun, Ditopia is a mere babe in the world. I wouldn't be expecting her to be on any maps more than two years old." After saying this he flicked the map sticking out of Sakura's bag. "The suits wanted a new sin city and built her, but it 'ain't what they were expecting it to be. No drifters here, except on rare occasion like 'ya, yeah."

Sakura nodded, thinking to herself for a while as her savior pulled off the road and turned around to head back down to the town."Ditopia? I've never heard of it."

"Course not, nobody 'as. If it weren't for the peeps livin' there now, she 'ave gone under day one. Nobody knows about it or comes ta see it, yeah." The blond chuckled to himself then hit his steering wheel, startling her. "Damn me, I forgot to tell 'ya who I am. The name's Deidara, just so you know, hun. What about yourself?"

"Sakura," she answered with a smile. "I was on my way to meet a girlfriend in Vegas, but I'm kind of glad I missed that. How far is the strip from here?"

"Mmm, not far. Ya can get there in ah hour's drive. If you can't get you there with yer own rig, I'd be more than happy ta help out. If not me, there's sure to be ah nice line vying to get out of the fish bowl."

She smiled, feeling the gesture a bit strained. Something told her that this guy was being overly friendly with her, compared to any other stranger. "Thanks Deidara, that's really considerate, but I'm sure I can get there on my own, or wait till my car is fixed. I'm not in that much of a hurry as it is."

"If, 'ya say so, yeah...." he replied, still smiling, as he pulled into the town.

All of a sudden there were lights everywhere, flashing, blinking, twinkling, and glowing in any and every color out there. There were signs that moved and ones that didn't but lit up in different places so it looked like it did. The truck turned down a main road and suddenly there was a well lit hotel before her with a stretched out restaurant next to it. Deidara parked between the two, so that it was a even walk from the car to either one.

"That there is a first class dinner 'ya can fill up at, but if 'ya just want a nibble, the hotel has a bar of its own."

"I think it's best I get a room, then something to eat," Sakura said while reaching into the back seat to grab her backpack that had tumbled just out of off her seat, she stretched as far as she could and grabbed one of the straps, dragging the rest closer to her.

While she was doing that, Deidara got out and ran around to the other side to open her door for her and offer his hand when she climbed out. She thanked him again and cursed herself for feeling so easy as he walked her to the hotel's front doors. 'Just to be safe,' he clarified.

The lobby was crisp and elegant, with red carpet and glass elevators that sat between the escalators. Chandeliers hung over head, twinkling rainbow colored lights off its crystals. The main desk was to her left, but to her right was where the guests hung out, and from that side of the room she could hear what sounded like a cello.

Ignoring it, she crossed the room to the desk, with Deidara still at her side. There was no one there when she got there, so she rang. For a doorway in the back, a young man with wild, messy hair the color of wine came walking in. He cast a glance in Deidara's direction before talking to Sakura.

"Hello, miss. My name is Sasori, would you like a room for one tonight?" Sakura felt Deidara stiffen from behind her, and gave this Sasori guy another look over. He was handsome, to be sure, and well dressed with his tie done up all the way and his buttons and buttoned. His eyes were the same color as his hair with maybe a tint more of brown to them.

"Yes, I would please. I'm just going to be here one day."

He nodded, reaching behind him and picked up a key card with its room number printed it elegant gold numbers. "Here you are miss. If it pleases you, the bar will be opened till one and the lounge is available all night. I'll be touring around the hotel a bit, so if you required my services, just ring." When he passed her the keycard, their fingers brushed and Sakura could have sworn he had meant for that to happen. When she looked up at him, he was grinning a rakish sort of smile, his eyes dancing with mirth. "Please enjoy your stay."

Before she could retreat for herself, Sakura felt herself dragged away by two tanned hands that smelled of Arizona clay and vanilla. "You should hurry, yeah. Sasori is a lady killer 'round these parts and he just gave 'ya _the_ look. Best keep your distance for 'ah while."

"Is he dangerous?" she asked, not doubting his words for a moment. Sasori had giver her the creeps as soon as she saw that look his eyes held after their hands touched.

Deidara laughed, but shook his head. "Nah, he won't be. But I suggest you stay away for your room and wait in the lounge. He doesn't like going in there when there are other guests, specially the Uchiha, yeah."

"Uchiha who?" she squeaked, before she was ushered into the sunken room that looked like it was set up to be a jazz club.

There were three or four males at a table, and a bartender tending to his glasses. Playing the cello was a slender young man with ivory skin that seemed to glow against his long ebony hair. A few jaw length bangs fell around his face as he bent over his instrument, but the rest was pulled back into a tie at the base of his neck. He didn't look up as the duo entered, but continued to play as if he were all alone. The other males at the table in the back looked up, however.

"Neji, get me something with lime will 'ya?" Deidara snapped, settling into a stool at the bar as Sakura did the same.

The Bartender glared at the blond, but quickly made up something for his customer, his hands working without the aid of his eyes. Ever since Sakura had sat down, he had been staring at her as if she were some rare and exotic animal that was thought to be long dead. He finished with Deidara's drink and slid that down to him before talking to Sakura. "And for you miss?"

Sakura cast a glance behind the young male who looked to be about her age, looking at all the different liquors before letting her eyes fall back to his face. He was another delicate looking one with glassy milk eyes that refused to leave her appearance.

"I'll have a scotch, please."

"Make that two, boy," someone called, coming behind her. He was tall, a good foot taller than her, with slicked back white hair and dancing grape stained eyes. He saw her looking at him and smiled, showing off his teeth. "What have we here? You new around here, bitch?"

Sakura felt angered at the insult coming from a total stranger. "Excuse me?"

"What, you hard of hearing already. I asked you if you were new, bitch."

"Hidan, lay off," Deidara snapped, leaning closer to Sakura.

The man named Hidan looked like he was going to say something more, when a hand clapped down on his shoulder. He turned around with a fierce look in his eyes for the man with titan colored hair and obsidian like piercings through his chin and the bridge of his nose. "That is highly inappropriate seach for a guest of the hotel, Hidan. It would be best if you returned to your seat."

Hidan glared at the man, but looked behind him and saw the other two men from before, standing behind him. Knowing it was a loss cause, he sighed, rudely and flipped them all off as he headed for the door. "Ah, maybe next time, bitch."

"Ya didn't have to butt in like that, Pein, yeah," Deidara sighed, leaning back a bit. Even Neji from behind the counter seemed a bit calmer. Whoever this Pein guy was, he seemed to have some sort of power of these people.

Sakura looked behind him and saw that the two men behind him both had black hair and black eyes. The shorter and younger looking of the two had jaw length bangs on either side of his face with the rest of his hair cut short and spread out behind him. He looked annoyed, but stayed behind the older male. The other man beside him had much longer hair the fell over half his face. SAkura had though his eyes were black at first, but when he looked over at her, she saw hints of red flash. What was surprising about this guy, was that he seemed relaxed and in control of the whole situation. Like it was really him manipulating everything that happened, working behind the scenes.

"I didn't know you were in the habit of picking up desert bums, Deidara," the younger spoke.

"Mind your own rat killings, Sasuke."

Averting her eyes, Sakura grabbed her scotch and sent Neji a glance of thanks before taking a sip. Deidara and the boy named Sasuke continued to glare, while Pein watch along with Neji. The last unnamed member of the group was the only one paying attention to her. Brushing past the other males, he took up the empty seat beside Sakura and gave Neji a signal for his regular.

"I apologize for the boys rude behavior, none of it was acceptable." His drink came and he down half of it in one gulp. "My name is Madara. Is there anything you need while you are staying here?"

"Uh, aside from a tow truck, I think I'm good. I'm not in a hurry to get to where I'm going...but my friend will be real angry with me if I'm any more late than I already am, so I'll have to leave as soon as that's done." Suddenly she didn't see so hesitant to leave. Ino, as annoying as she was, made her feel a lot more safe than she was already. "My name is Sakura by the way."

"Ah, that's too bad," Madara drawled, running his rim around the top of his shot glass. "There are so many fun things you can do in this town. It would be a shame for you to leave without enjoying yourself a bit. That is what this place was built for."

"Ah...so, um Madara..." he smiled when she used his name. "Do you live in Ditopia or are you vacationing here. It doesn't seem like much of a... like a place many people would live. Deidara said something about this place being like a second Las Vegas."

"Mm, yes, that is true, but it is rare for us to have many visitors in this place. Most people happen upon us by accident, much like yourself, or breeze in for a mere night to sleep before heading to the main strip. I believe there are only two other guests in this hotel tonight, is than not pitiful. Makes one wonder how we can survive. Tell me Sakura, your friend, is he someone you have known for a long time?"

"Ah, yeah, but she's a girl, not a guy."

His eyes seemed to flash a brighter shade of red when she told him this. "Oh really, I'm sorry, please forgive me for the misunderstanding. Then, if it's not too personal, is there a man waiting for you in Vegas or back home?"

Her insides felt like they were twisting and stretching around butterflies that wanted to break free. This seemed too personal to her, but she didn't want to let this man see her fear. "No, I'm not seeing anyone anymore, but at the same time, I'm really happy being single."

"Of course," he chuckled, finishing off the rest of drink with a devilish look to his smile.

Sakura looked up from her glass when she noticed the cello music missing. The man with black hair had disappeared, not bothering to even leave his instrument behind. Somehow she felt sad to have him gone, even though she had no desire to engage him in conversation, his music made the room seem lighter. All of a sudden, all she wanted to do was get away.

Finishing her drink, she slipping out of her seat. "I'm a bit tired now, so I think I'm going to go find my room and get ready for bed. It was nice meeting you Madara, and you too Neji, If Deidara asks where I went, tell him I said goodnight." With that, she turned and left, the muffled argument between Deidara and that boy Sasuke. The man with the piercing was no longer by them, and was instead sitting at his table by the far window. She caught his eye while leaving and felt her heart drop. His gaze was mesmerizing and frightening at the same time.

Biting the inside of her cheek was as she could do to keep her nerve while walking to the elevator. Her key card said her room was on the fourth floor, so she pushed the number four button and waited as the wires pulled the cage up.

While waiting she began to search through her bag for her phone. Pushing the front buttons, she was glad to see that it was still well and alive. She pressed number three speed dial for Ino and was too busy listening to the ringing to notice Deidara and Sasuke running out of the lounge through the bottom glass of the elevator. Both had worried looks on their faces, as if they had just missed something really important.

It sounded like someone picked up on the other end of the line, and Sakura got ready to speak before a clash of static broke in. Nothing on the other end could be heard. "What?" she whispered to herself, feeling frustrated and scared. She had full bars and a good battery on her phone, so why wasn't she getting through. She disconnected the call and dialed Naruto's number only to get more static. The elevator got to her floor and she still couldn't get in touch with either Shizuno or Kakashi.

"What is wrong with this phone?" she grumbled, turning it off and tossing it back into her bag.

Looking up she saw a pair of males walking down the hall, or at least she though they were both males. The taller one was defiantly a guy, but the shorter had long chocolate colored hair that looked like spun silk. That person was dressed like a guy, but when Sakura called out to them, his/her face appeared to be feminine. 'No chest, so I'm just going to assume he's a dude who is really pretty.'

"Uh, sorry to bother you two, but do either of you have cell phones the work. I think mine is broken and I wanted to know if yours were working."

The two exchanged a look before the shorter and younger spoke. "Out phones were doing that too. Are you a guest at the hotel?"

"Yeah, are you guests as well?"

"We are. We thought it was just us, but it seemed unlikely. We were heading downstairs to ask the manager about this. Ah, I'm Haku by the way, and this is my older brother Zabuza. It's nice to meet you."

"My name is Sakura, nice to meet you as well. I am sorry for bothering you with my question."

"Ah, n-no that's fine. Ah, well, I guess we will see you in the morning then. Goon night, Sakura."

Sakura waved to the departing couple then turned towards her room at the end of the hall. Brushing off her worries about her cell phone, she slipped in her key card and opened the door. Flipping on the light, she was surprised to see that the room was spacious with a queen sized bed in the middle of it all with some rose petals around the pillows. Drawing closer she saw that there were two mints waiting for her and a card.

Flipping it opens she read aloud the gold cursive that seemed hard to decipher.

"Welcome to... Hotel... Dis...Disturbia?"

Then the lights went dead.

-

-

-

Faded pictures on the wall. It's like they talkin' to me  
Disconnectin' your call, your phone don't even ring  
I gotta get out or figure this shit out  
It's too close for comfort

It's a thief in the night to come and grab you  
It can creep up inside you and consume you,  
a disease of the mind. It can control you.  
I feel like a monster.

Throw on your break lights, we're in the city of wonder.  
Ain't gona play nice. Watch out, you might just go under.  
Better think twice, your train of thought will be altered.  
So if you must faulter be wise, your mind is in disturbia  
It's like the darkness is the light.... Disturbia  
Am I scaring you tonight? Your mind is in disturbia.  
Ain't used to what you like...  
_Disturbia_

Release me from this curse im in. Try to maintain that I'm struggling  
You can't go, go, go I think I'm going to oh, oh, oh

Throw on your break lights, we're in the city of wonder.  
Ain't gona play nice. Watch out, you might just go under.  
Better think twice, your train of thought will be altered.  
So if you must faulter be wise, your mind is in disturbia  
It's like the darkness is the light.... Disturbia  
Am I scaring you tonight? Your mind is in disturbia.  
Ain't used to what you like...  
_Disturbia_

_-_

_-_

_-_

* * *

This is the grand prize for Red-flower11 from my Sakura oneshot contest back in july. I hope you like it, Red. There are still many more chapters yet to be typed that I'm looking forward to doing.

I didn't get a message from Red about what kind of pairing she wanted for this chapter because she is really busy with spending time with her dad. Her dad was diagnosed with Stage 4 Liver Cancer, so she is spending her weekends and afternoons with him at the hospital. So, I just chose a bunch of males and made it a SakuraxMany and hoped this made for a nice surprise.

-Vesper chan


	5. E

Alphabetical Attraction

E = Elf  
Pairing: Madara Sakura  
Rating: T  
Word count:1176

-

**Elf**  
–noun, plural elves  [elvz]

.1.(in folklore) one of a class of preternatural beings, esp. from mountainous regions, with magical powers, given to capricious and often mischievous interference in human affairs, and usually imagined to be a diminutive being in human form; sprite; fairy.  
2.a diminutive person, esp. a child.  
3.a mischievous person, esp. a child.

-

If ever there was a more mischievously perverted person than Madara Uchiha, Sakura prayed to the high heavens that she never met such a man, because the one she worked for was enough to drive her insane ever freaking day of the work week.

Over a year ago Sakura had started her job as a secretary, thinking the hardest part of the job would be remembering who called for what and other such details. She had worked such jobs before, but nothing so upscale as Firelight**, **research and privet military development. It wasn't long after she started that the real dangers and difficulties of the work area were exposed for what they really were.

When she first met her boss she was m ore intimidated than anything-him being so young and successful while she was still floating around with no idea what she wanted to do with the rest of her life. He was nice and polite at first, ever the paragon of your ideal boss-so of course the last thing thing she was going to suspect him of being was a pervert. (With hair as beautifle and silky as his she was about to suspect him of being gay before anything else.)

She was wrong...._very_ wrong.

The door to his office made that sound it always did when it was being opened and she scrambled to hide behind her computer and look busy as the heads filed out, chattering away about whatever it was that they had talked about in the meeting. She glanced up only once, too scared for her virginity to do more than that. Sasuke and Itachi were coming out of hat meeting after all.

Only when it was quiet did she dare to venture out from behind her Mac. There was no sign of Madara and so she breathed a sigh of relief. Days when it was only her working behind the secretary desk were almost always days she was promised an attempted rape by her overly affectionate boss.

"Stupid Haku, why did you have to get the freaking swine flue," she hissed to herself, going back to her quiet work.

"Oh, please don't blame the poor guy."

Sakura jumped at the sound of the voice, then hissed when she felt his warm hands on her sides, pulling her backward and out of her chair. The devil's envied brother was back with a vengence it would appear.

"Ugh, Uchiha san, put me down you have business guests that could walk in and see us," she growled, trying to slip away.

"They won't be coming back, I've dismissed them for the day so that I could have some R&R. Ruling the world will give you such knots you know. Would you like to help me relieve some stress, love" he purred, his hand playing with her navel from underneath her shirt.

"I can't I have work to do you perverted fiend. Besides I can't possible see how something like this could pass as R&R."

"I'm your boss, Sakura, you are going to have to give me a better excuse to leave you than your work."

He kissed her neck and purred into her skin, running one hand over her stomach while the other reached back to rub her hips in that one place where he knew he could get a reaction out of her. She was sensitive there, after all.

"Damn it, you really are one sick bastard, you know that?" Sakura exhaled, feeling a bit light headed as her check flushed and brain flopped. There seemed to be a fire growing in her lower abdomen with ever stroke and feathered caress.

Madara kissed her under her ear before moving her lips right above the lope. "I love it when you talk dirty to me, love. Why don't you say my name for me again?"

"I really need to-"

He bit down on her ear and made her squeak.

"Madara!"

"There we go."

The pink haired woman growled, feeling trapped ni her current-pleasurable-situation. "I really do have a lot of stuff I need to get to since I'm the only one here at the office. There's all of Haku's work I need to cover as well as my own-ohohhh...." her words trailed off in a monad as he graced a certain area he knew would make her weak.

He kissed her passionately before moving back to her ear, leaving her lips trembling. "I told you didn't I? You are going to have to give me a better excuse if you wanna leave me. Do you want me to go?"

"Uchi-,"she breathed deeply forgetting her earlier pride and resolve to stand firm and not let this guy melt her like a stick of butter on a warm muffin. "Madara, please can't you just..."

"I'm sorry this is so hard for you Sakura, but it's only because you're making it this way." He brushed his cheek against her own in an affectionate manner-much less aggressive the he had been earlier. "You don't really want me to leave you, do you?"

"N-no," she managed to stutter out. Her voice was hardly a whisper.

"Then I don't think I see a problem here."

Madara Uchiha was certainly a most mischievously perverted person, there was never any doubt about that at all in Sakura's mind. He was a little imp, a devil, a fiend, and elf alive with trickery when he saw something he wanted. But, when Sakura sat down to think about it, fifteen minutes after he had to leave for a press confrence with some minor news company, she decided that maybe it wasn't that bad of a thing to be such an elf.

Sakura stared down at her hand before letting it fall back to her side. She had noticed that the designer styled engagement ring had a few strands of his silky, black hair still caught in it from their earlier embrace. Her cheeks warmed at the inappropriate memory from within the workplace.

"I'll have to be more careful next time."

-

-

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Sorry it's so short~!


	6. F

Alphabetical Attraction

F = Fear  
Pairing: Sakura many  
Rating: T  
Word count:100

fear /fɪər/[feer]

–noun  
1. a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined; the feeling or condition of being afraid.  
**_Origin: _**bef. 900; ME fere, OE fær sudden attack or danger.

.

Blood thumped like a deerskin drum beneath the surface of her skin.

She was afraid.

The woods were haunting at this late hour and time of the year more so than ever before. It was downright ghostly outside. It was late in the autumn season and all the vibrant red and gold leaves were shed, leaving most of the trees naked and thin against the moonlight. To Sakura they looked like the fingers on an old woman-a witch-before she reached out to strangle the pretty pale neck on a princess.

Thankfully Sakura wasn't a princess, never had been, but, that did little if anything to ease her fears.

"Why the hell did I accept that stupid dare?" she said to no one, her breath coming out in little white clouds in front of her face.

A long time ago, when she was much younger, Sakura remembered coming into the woodland once before, only to experience something she didn't know if she could honestly say was real. She was so young it was hard to separate from dreams and childish fantasies. But, she could have sworn these woods were haunted with very real monsters! Yeah right. Of course she knew better now. There were no such thing as monsters.

Her so called friends knew she was afraid of this place so they thought it would be fun to blindfold and tie her up before dumping her in the middle of the woods as a dare. It had taken a good half hour to get the knot out and free herself, and another hour after that only resulted in Sakura becoming even more lost. If anything, she seemed deeper in than she had ever been before. The trees were older and taller and thicker in this part.

"And of course it just had to be tonight of all nights," she cried softly, feeling even more afraid under the full moon."

October 31- all hallows' eve.

Something skidded behind her and Sakura jumped, hearing the dead leaves crumple. Something had moved, she was sure of it, but there was nothing she could see. Was it one of the girls coming back to enjoy their experiment? Weren't they drunk enough as it was?

"Ino...? Karin...? Are you guys there?"

"..." No reply.

"Come on guys this isn't funny. Your joke is over, the dare is done."

"..." Still no reply.

"Shit, come on. I'm tired and cold and I haven't had anything to eat since the candy sorting this morning. Just come on out an-aaahhhhHH_HHH!_"

The earth gave way beneath Sakura and she found herself falling forward into the darkness of a hill she had not seen with only the moon as her light. The earth was damp and loose, making it hard to find friction, but Sakura tried to stop all the same. She stumbled around trying to get her footing while falling further still until a massive barked form interrupted her decent.

She fell into the tree and knew the skin on her head broke for blood before passing out. A barn owl flapped against the moon and 'wooed' a mournful echo.

The feeling in her legs was biting, and she knew that five inch heels were not a good idea for trick or treating no matter how tall and thin they made her look. But maybe it wasn't her heels that made her legs feel like they were stretched till every cell burst.

"She moved!"

"Shut up, you're being annoying."

"But she's waking up, she's going to open her eyes!"

Sakura felt someone hovering around her and groaned, rolling onto her side away from the noise. That wasn't such a good idea. The injured side of her head hit the pillow and she hissed, reeling back into what felt like a pair of strong male arms.

"Easy there," someone said. "You'll be just fine, we put a bandage on it."

The fuzzy in her sight came into focus like with a camera and all of a sudden the long gold hair and bright aquamarine eyes were vivid in her sight. She blinked, surprised to see such a handsome face adorned with scars like whiskers on each cheek that moved when he grinned. And he did grin. He grinned _widely_ down at her.

"You're awake, princess!" He cried, obviously happy.

He leaned down closer to her till his face was less than an inch away from her cheek. He sniffed? Then licked her cheek with a giggle upon contact.

"What the hel-ow, ow, owwww..." Sakura moaned, trying to pull away only to feel pain.

"See what you did dobe," a second figure grunted coming into light.

He pushed the blond away and roughly took Sakura into a sitting position with the help of two finely chiseled arms and a equally finely chiseled chest that could be seen through the rip down the front of his shirt. Sakura caught her jaw hanging a gap. He was _fine, _if she did say so herself.

"Shut up, teme. She tastes as good as she smells. I'm glad you brought her back instead of just leaving her," the blond one said. "You can't just keep her to yourself now that I had a taste. Nah, too bad."

"What...? Brought who...what did you do to me? Why am I here, wherever here is?" Sakura was fearful once more, her heart racing right out of her chest.

"What is your name?" the calm black haired one asked. Sakura felt stiff under his gaze.

So beautifle.

"Sakura...my name is Sakura."

"Cherry blossom, how appropriate for such a beauty. My name is Naruto and this brooding emo is Sasuke, he's a jerk though so you don't have to remember his name. You probably wouldn't want to stay with him anyway."

"Bastard! Lay off and learn to stay away from what's not yours," Saskue snarled, leaning forward to shield Sakura with his arms while kicking Naruto back with a free foot. Sakura thought she saw fangs behind his flushed lips, but doubted it. Halloween had a lot of people dressed up these days, right?

Naruto glared, crossing his arms over his chest, eyes suddenly dark. "I don't want to. If you wanted to keep her to yourself you shouldn't have let me see Sakura chan in the first place. Now I can't help but want her an with that scent you can bet that I won't be the only one coming after her."

"What are you two talking about?" Sakura asked, pushing against Sasuke's arms and trying to get out of the bed-cot-thing she was sitting on top of. She grunted in pain holding her head as the movement called for blood to rush behind her wound. The two men edged forward, seeing this, eager to help.

"Are you alright Sakura chan?"

Sakura blinked and then squinted her gaze into a glare. "Where am I, and who are you to address me so closely? I don't know you."

"But, but I already introduced myself. I said my name was Naruto didn't I?" he looked like a kicked puppy.

"I don't care, I still don't know you any."

Naruto seemed to transform into a _dead_, kicked puppy upon hearing her words for him. He fell back onto his but and sulked in a corner, mumbling to himself. Sasuke just closed his eyes and shook his head, exhaling deeply.

"Sakura san... I found you crumpled up against a tree in the woods and brought you to my home in order to patch you up. I am sorry if this is uncomfortable to hear since you have been through quite a night already."

"You patched me up? Oh, thank you then. That helped me out. Sorry to be a bother."

"It was no such bother to help out a human in need."

"Still," Sakura looked around the elegant room with fine velvet curtains and vintage furniture. "You took me into your home to help me. Thank you."

"Hn." He paused, taking her expressionless face in with ever softening eyes. "It is dangerous to be alone in those woods. What were you doing there, and on this night no less?"

Sakura felt a bit less fearful bit still sick from her head wound. "Sorry...I was lost after loosing my friends I guess."

"In the woods?" Sasuke didn't sound like he bought her story.

"It was sort of like a dare, a thrill game of sorts if you will. They wanted to have fun tonight."

His knuckled grazed her cheek and pushed back a stray stand of hair that was stained with dirt from her earlier fall. She turned her eyes away from his looking ashamed and to Sasuke that was just a whole new level of cuteness. She was adorable on too many levels. Just like a little lamb he wanted to hold onto her and care for her and protect her. Of course he knew she was lying...he knew all the reasons for her being out in his woods and he knew why she was covering for those two girls with the booze in their blood. Oh, did he know ever so many things. It would shock her if she knew what he saw in her.

"Did you have fun?"

She looked surprised. "Excuse me?"

"I don't think you wanted this sort of fun. You should have just stayed home and maybe you wouldn't have been hurt." It did not make him any glad to see her hurt in front of him while he could do nothing to ease that pain.

Sakura frowned, not liking the way this Sasuke guy was looking down at her or what he was telling her. Just thinking over his words there was nothing wrong with that per say, but the way he said then and the way he looked when he said them made her shiver. He _frightened_ her. His eyes were those of a panther; hungry and predatorily.

"Yeah, I think you are right. I should be heading home right now or else my parents will worry. I've been out for too long."

She stood and winced at the throb. Naruto stood and was closer to her now as she tried to move. There was a door at the end of the room she clutched. With more effort than normal she opened it and let herself out into a hall. The two men were standing up and following her... stalker like.

The hallway was dark with deep blue green marble tiles and dark wood walls with no lights save the ones from dying chandelier. The hallway down to the front door was certainly elegant if not a bit spooky in it's gothic style. She was staggering by the time she got to the front door. Sasuke and Naruto held back, watching her and waiting for something.

She opened the door and felt her fear increase tenfold.

"Where am I?" she gasped turning around to look at the two males with wide eyes. Behind her a long stone staircase spilled into the moist earth of her haunted woods. It was thick all around her and even more haunting then she liked to remember it.

"The woods," Sasuke replied evenly, steeping forward. Naruto hung back, expression grim.

Sakura felt fear rip her insides to shreds. It was hard to breath with no lungs.

"Let me go...let me out of it."

Sasuke approached her and took her face into his delicate, spidery fingers, caressing the peach texture of her skin. He sighed with closed eyes, tilting his head one way. Sakura saw something shine in the folds his feathery black bangs and gasped when the curved texture of ram like horns in black glass stood out. _Horns_! And the looked real too.

"I don't want to, you're mind Sakura. I found you and I want to keep you for myself."

Fear was unmeasurable at this moment.

"Wh-wh-wha-t-t are y-y-you?"

Saskura grinned, leaning in to kiss her tears and then her ear before whispering...

"A _monster_."

.

And now the nightclub sets the stage for this they come in pairs she said  
We'll shoot back holy water like cheap whiskey they're always there  
Someone get me to the doctor, and someone call the nurse  
And someone buy me roses, and someone burned the church  
We're hanging out with corpses, and driving in this hearse  
And someone save my soul tonight, please save my soul

.

* * *

I really miss you Red...

This is all for her, but I haven't heard for in a real long while so I just picked a guy and wrote this up while in the mood hoping she is somehow still reading this. Maybe she is. I hope she isn't mad or disappointed with how this chapter turned out. I had something in mind totally different for Fear but never got around to writing it until this weekend. Maybe it is the fall atmosphere that has me going all monster and ghoulish on you all. I don't know why, but I seem to be obsessed with monsters and insane/crazy/powerful guys at this point in my life. What about you?

Look up my author's profile for details involving a contest in October entitled: October Spirit. I am already so in the mood, I hope you are too!

Show a starving, (very sick at the moment), artist a little love here and drop her a review to make her day. Seriously, if this is good enough to fav, can't you review it?


	7. G

Alphabetical Attraction

G =Grumpy  
Pairing: Sakura Kimimaro  
Rating: T  
Word count:1533

Grumpy |ˈgrəmpē|

Adjective: (grumpier, grumpiest) bad-tempered and -tempered, and resentful; refusing to be cooperative or cheerful.

Tag line:"Yeah? Well Mr. Tedd doesn't like big, mean bullies either! So there!"

* * *

This was perplexing.

Sakura moaned into the thick head of her teddy as she squeezed his gut tighter to her small six year old body while continuing to stare at the puzzling challenge before her. Her eyes narrowed in concentration, zoned in on the two objects she had set aside from the others.

"Ugh this is so hard, I don't know what to do," she mumbled into her bear's head.

She reached out hesitantly, but then drew back in uncertainty. She couldn't. There was too much at stake here for her to risk it on anything less thought out. No, she needed to take her time with this and made sure it came out absolutely perfect. So much was at stake her that she couldn't possibly rush it with-

"Oh just pick a stupid crayon already!" Sasuke cried, coming up behind her with a ball in his hands. "You've been coloring your stupid picture all day and it's already recess. Play ball with me!"

Sakura turned and scowled at the annoying Uchiha who she hated to admit was her neighbor and friend. "Leave me alone Sasuke, I don't want to play with you."

She could have told him she killed a puppy and burned a tomato garden he looked so devastated. His tiny six year old braid was burring out as it attempted to compute the possibility that Sakura might not want to spend every last second of her existence playing with him.

Apparently kindergarden is filled with a lot of drama.

Unable to handle it, Sasuke took action in the only way he knew how. He reached out and ripped Sakura's teddy bear out from her hands and held it up above his hear. "I have your bear and I'm not giving it back until you play with me."

"Sasuke!" she screamed, tearing up instantly. She needed that thing like a security blanket. "Give Mr. Tedd back!"

"Not until you play with me."

"Sasuke you're a bully," Sakura said, stomping her foot. "Give him back."

Sasuke seemed to be truly hurt by her accusation but remembered his priorities. He wanted her to play with him so of course he pushed his guilt down and shook her fuzzy brown bear a bit while backing up towards to door that lead to the outside playground. "Not unless you catch me!" And then he took off.

"Sasuke!" she cried, running after him with tears in her eyes.

She was wearing her news shoes so they weren't exactly broken in, making running painful for the most part. At least Sasuke would slow down so she could catch up to him just enough to follow. She chased him down the hill over the slides, around the swings and towards the sand fields where the older kids sometimes played volleyball. The first and second graders had recess the same time as the kindergardeners.

Sasuke looked back over his shoulder to see how close Sakura was and made sure she could still see him. He laughed and the funny way she ran and grew happier with himself for being able to drag her outside to play tag, even if she stunk at running. Too busy with his laughing, Sasuke didn't see the tall back of the older male who was standing on his own, doing nothing in the middle of the sand fields. With a loud off, Sasuke fell backwards and the older kid stumbled a bit.

"Hey watch it!" Sasuke shouted, climbing up to his feet while the white haired youth turned around to see his attacker. Sasuke frowned at the boy's pale eyes and red liner. "Freak."

"Sasuke, give me Mr. Tedd back!" Sakura huffed, catching up in the short time Sakura had spent on the ground. She was tired though and her feet hurt.

The young Uchiha started to run again but was cloths lined by the white haired kid, putting him back on his but with a choked 'ugh.'

"What do you think you're doing?" Sasuke screamed sounding like a spoiled brat who was never hit.

The boy just blinked, did nothing for a long three seconds, then reached forward to grab the bear out of Sasuke's hands. Sasuke tried to take the bear back but the white haired kid pushed Sasuke back into the sand with half lidded eyes, obviously not feeling threatened by the shorter boy. He then walked around Sasuke and approached Sakura with the bear in his hands. Without a word he handed the bear over with stiff, robotic movements that betrayed his nervousness. Oh yeah, Sakura was sort of every little boy's crush in the school, even with the older grades. And yes, this was also the main reason Sasuke teased Sakura as much as he did. He liked her a lot, too.

"Ah, thank you so much! You got him back for me." Sakura took the bear with a wide smile and hugged it tight to her stomach. "I'm Sakura what's your name?"

His cheeks reddened a bit. "...Uh...Kimimaro."

"Thank you Kimmy kun, Sasuke was being a bully and making me chase him cause he stole my friend."

Stiffly he nodded, seeming to forget how to blink. "...Un...I don't like bullies."

"Yeah? Well Mr. Tedd doesn't like big, mean bullies either! So there! We can be friends now. Do you like to color?"

Sasuke sputtered, rushing in between the two. "Hey-no! Sakura you have to play with me outside I don't want you to play with anyone else. You can't-."

Kimimaro pushed Sasuke face first into the sand with one hand, swiping so quickly up the back of his head Sakura almost missed it cause he was sort of like a ninja that way. Kimimaro blinked and Sakura waited for an answer, eyes wide and cheerful.

"...Ah...I like to color."

.

14 years later.

.

Sakura giggled, flipping through the pages of her album.

There were so many precious memories captured there from her days in kindergarden, (harassed by Sasuke almost everyday), to her first year in collage. Kimimaro was in most of her photos sine he was her favorite friend even after she met Ino in first grade.

Their moms thought it was odd that the two go along as well as they did because of their age difference, but Kimimaro had social challenges that Sakura seemed to brush aside, making them an ideal couple. Aside from Sakura Kimimaro hadn't made any friends up till the sixth grade when he met the equally awkward Jugo.

She flipped the page and there were more photos of her seventh birthday with Sasuke next to her, begrudgingly putting up with Kimimaro who stood on the other side of Sakura in the photo. She remembered that day and chuckled at the memories of Sasuke taking every chance he could to try and trip, hit, slap, and hurt her white haired friend, but all his attacks were the same. It was like fighting a brick wall when it came to kimimaro.

Sakura's eight birthday had Ino and her ninth birthday had many more girlfriends to surround her and both boys took background stances in the photos but all the way to her latest nineteenth birthday were they evident in the photos. That night Sasuke had tried to ram his car into Kimimaro's but ended up hitting a street lamp. Of course it was all Kimimaro's fault somehow.

Sakura laughed aloud at the memory and felt the body behind her stir.

"What's so funny?" Kimimaro asked, wrapping his arms around her waist. They were both sitting on the floor, with Sakura between Kimimaro's legs, leaning against his back until he dozed off against the side of their bed.

"Just going through some photos. You remember my ninteenth?"

The white haired male smiled and kissed her ear. "He was pretty pissed that I proposed to you huh?"

"Nah, he's just never been friendly with you."

"Is that your professional opinion or did Mr. Tedd tell you that."

Sakura laughed and turned around to kiss her husband's lips.

.

* * *

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Fluff, love it.

It's kind of short so I'm sorry for that but it fit this way. For **Thirrin73** for her awesome oneshot Ruby Shoes that placed 2ed in my October spirit contest. I hope you like it!

Vesper chan


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